The second chapter of John is where the miracles of Jesus begin! Of course, His first miracle was at the
wedding feast where He turned water into wine. Most of us have learned that the wedding feasts in
those times lasted a week or more, and the groom was to provide food and wine for all the guests.
Jesus, Mary, and the disciples were all there for the celebration. We don’t know whose wedding it was,
relatives of Mary and Jesus, close friends, even one of the disciples, but what we do know is Mary
noticed the wine had run out. This could greatly embarrass the groom and Mary tells Jesus, “They have
no more wine.” He tells her, “Woman, that is not our problem. My time has not yet come.” Jesus had
done no miracles at this point in His life, but His mother had faith and trust in her son and knew He
would do something.
Now, in preparing my thoughts for this blog, I read several discussions and lessons on this miracle, and I
want to share with you a couple of pretty cool observations from some of those studies!
I never thought about this before, but why didn’t He just use the wine skins or whatever the wine had
been in to fill with water for the miracle? The stone pots he chose were normally used to hold water for
cleansing and purification. With that many guests, there would be hands and feet that would need to be
washed. Each pot could hold 20 to 30 gallons of water, so 6 pots would have 120 to 180 gallons of fresh
water, plenty for all those guests. So, the stone pots would hold water for purification, external
cleansing. And Jesus turned it into wine, saving the groom embarrassment. Not only that, the host, who
was making sure food and wine continued to be in place for all the guests, noticed that the groom had
saved the best wine for last, not the normal plan with so many guests for several days.
The symbolism is simply mind-blowing. External cleansing only does so much for mankind. We need
more. And He already knew it. John tells us the pots were filled to the brim, could we say to
overflowing? The stone pots held water that was for purification, so all could be cleansed. And He
turned it into wine. And we all know what wine symbolizes: the blood of Jesus. And we all need internal
cleansing. Real cleansing, internal cleansing is in the heart through the precious blood of Jesus.
And a last thought that made my cup runneth over when I heard it: Remember what the host told the
servants, the best had been saved till the last. To those who don’t know Jesus, this life is as good as it
gets. To those of us who do know Jesus, this life is as BAD as it gets: We know the best is yet to come!
Our Host, God, has saved the best for last!!
Thank you for these beautiful thoughts, Lois. I love the concept of God saving the best for last. And I love that Jesus did this miracle so quietly - no big show and no drama, just amazing power quietly at work like He does for us every day.